The biggest accusation labelled against the British Empire and Imperialism generally was that it was responsible for stripping countries of their wealth. Last night I experienced close up something that makes me question how far we have moved on.
We had organised a day trip to Boulogne for our Year 7 students and were returning from a successful day out when one of our coaches developed a worrying knocking sound at the front. When the coach pulled into the services the drivers found two illegal immigrants hiding in an area underneath it, between the bumper and the front wheels! When we checked the second coach we found another human being so desperate to enter this country that they were prepared to hang on for grim life to the bottom of a multi tonned vehicle hurtling along the motorway network at 70 mph. These three Sudanese stowaways were in this perilous position for the best part of three hours before they were found. I discovered from the police who attended that another person had lost their life on the M25 earlier that day doing the same thing they had lost their balance and fallen onto the motorway. Why?
When you read in the papers of the hedge fund listing on the stockmarket and earning its directors £25 billion and you read the charges against said fund in relation to wrong doing in Africa you have to ask yourself how far we have come from those times when we stripped the continent bear?
Somebody made the statement to me recently 'the problem with Africa is a lack of governance.' Do we bear no responsibility for this? Have we not created the conditions for this sending the message that we will buy your support. The number of undesirables in power now growing rich on our development funds or have been supported in the past are too numerous to mention.
When young men risk their lives to come to this country the question remains are we still creating the conditions for desperation?
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